Blue eyes
by SPG inc
Summary: Jessie comes home after a bad date with Jonny, and has a bitter confrontation with her dad about a family secret.


The door to the living area swung open with reckless abandon, banging against the wall hard enough to graze the wood panelling. Jessie paid it no mind as she stormed into the room.

The living area was an interesting mix of old fashion materials- the wood panelling and carved bookshelves- and modern design, like the florescent lights, a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and a sunken area in the middle with a staircase spiralling to the lower floor. It was elegant and refined, and Jessie Bannon stood out like a sore thumb in her walking boots, Levi's with a rip in one knee and a slightly baggy t-shirt, clothes she'd picked out very specifically to help her through what had been the most excruciating night of her life.

She'd gone into town with Jonny for the night. Her and Jonny. Not Hadji. Not even Bandit. Just them.

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' _Jessie,' Jonny ventured as he nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt- smart clothing, not Smart smart clothing, but smarter than the assembly she was wearing. The sort of clothes you wear to show you've made an effort._

' _I had a great evening,' Jessie nearly laughed at that- the evening had been miserable for them both, even as she'd put on a casual smile and babbled cheerfully while he nodded dejectedly and tried to respond in kind 'but when I asked if you wanted to come out with me tonight, what I meant was, I thought we could get to know each-'_

' _Jonny,' Jessie said with a smile as fake as her pleasant demeanour, struggling to meet his crystal blue eyes without flinching "I don't think we should try and read anything deeper into tonight. We just did what we do most nights, the same as everyone and their friends do every night.'_

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Jessie grimaced. Was there a worse way to tell someone to stay in the friend zone? She had no idea what she'd said after that before coming here to be alone in the Quest compound, but she doubted it had improved the tone of the evening.

Jessie drifted over to the windows, nauseous and emotionally fatigued. As she moved something caught her attention through the distant haze her mind was in.

Family photos on the sideboard, perfectly framed and positioned like the evidence of a perfect family should be. There were pictures of the whole quest team together, others with two's and three's of them. One photo was of Jonny and Bandit. But it was the one at the back that Jessie's emerald eyes were drawn to. A photo of Dr Benton Quest and his wife. Jessie picked up the. She'd only looked at it once before, years ago, but the moment and the reason for looking at it were as fresh in her memory as if it were yesterday.

The photo was old- the Dr Quest in it was young and beardless, but his rich brown hair and eyes gave him away. Mrs Quest- or was it Dr Quest as well? - stood at equal height, with dazzling blonde hair and eyes a similar shade to her husband's. Dr Quest had said many times that Jonny took after his mother.

Jessie's expression soured.

"Jessie?"

The voice was as familiar to her as her own. Jessie's fiery hair lashed out fiercely as she turned her back on the new arrival.

"Hey, Ponchita," Race Bannon, her father, called out as he moved through the room. "Everythin' alright?"

"Why do want to know?"

Race didn't even break stride at his daughter's abruptness. In place of the bite in Jessie's personality, the former secret agent turned bodyguard for Dr Quest carried a calm confidence as honed and tested as much as any of his combat skills. He strode towards Jessie with steady, controlled movements of his strong body.

"What up, Jessie?" Race asked in his negotiators voice as his daughter moved away from him to look out of the windows. "Jonny came in looking like he just got put on death row. I thought you guys were going out tonight?"

"It wasn't just going out dad. Me and Jonny went out alone. Hadji wasn't there, or anyone else. We went out on a date."

Silence filled the room. Jessie could feel the shock coming off her dad and took vindictive pleasure in it. Had he thought they would be children forever? She was twenty, and Jonny was now nineteen. Had it never occurred to him that this might happen? Or had he some contingency plan prepared years ago for this eventuality?

"And… things didn't work out?" was he actually trying to hide the sound of hope in his voice? "I'm sorry, Honey. Sometimes it's easier just to be friends with folks we know too well."

The hypocrisy nearly made her scream.

"You know it's funny," Jessie's tone was anything but amused. "I live in a science research compound with a genius and the world's most advanced computer system, but I found out about this from a general knowledge quiz."

"Found out about what?"

"Blue eyes, dad," Jessie spun to face her father. His eyes showed more emotion than he allowed on his face. Behind the mask of reassuring patience she could see uncertainty, apprehension, and maybe even a little fear.

' _Good.'_

"Blue eyes are a recessive gene. No one can be born with blue eyes unless they have a parent with them too. I got mom's eyes instead of yours."

Jessie held up the photo frame in her hand so that her dad could see it.

"Dr Quest's always saying how much Jonny takes after his mom; how he even looks like her. But I'm the only one who seems to have noticed. Jonny doesn't have his mom's eyes, or his dad's."

Jessie lowered the photo, her eyes pinning her father's with burning accusation.

"He has your eyes."

One could have heard a pin drop in the void of shock that followed. Father and daughter stared at each other, the force of the revelation driving the temperature of the room down. Race's sapphire eyes were bright with panic.

"Jessie," Race attempted to sound outraged, but his shortness of breath betrayed him. "What the Sam hell are you-"

"Don't even try, dad. I put the pieces together years ago, after I noticed the eyes thing. You met Jonny's mom before you met Dr Quest. She was a forensic scientist. I found out with Questworld that you were asked to work on a case together by the FBI. And you left and became Dr Quest's bodyguard just a month after Jonny was born."

This time Race Bannon couldn't find the words. He stuttered and looked away.

"Just admit it already dad. You're Jonny's father." Jessie barked at her dad. "That makes him my half-brother. A half-brother I just went out on a date with!"

"Jess…"

"What would you have done if I hadn't found out, huh? Would you have told us? Or would you have stayed quiet and hoped it all went wrong? What if it didn't? Would you have watched us get married? Have kids together! ?"

"Jessie, stop!"

The girl sneered at Race's fierce tone.

"Maybe if someone had said that to you we wouldn't be having this conversation. Or maybe someone should have said 'it's easier to be friends with folks we know too well.' "

The crash of Race's fist hitting the sideboard knocked the other photos over. Jessie stopped, taken aback for a moment by her dad's anger, but her own anger was more than a match for his. She stared defiant as he struggled to regain his composure.

"Don't talk to me like that. You don't know what you're talking about." Race growled, but there was no fire in his voice. He sagged under the weight of his daughter's scorn. His teeth were bared in an expression that was equal parts anger and grief. Jessie couldn't pity him, too hurt by the terrible truth he'd kept from her for so long.

"Am I wrong, Dad?" she meant it to sound mocking, but some small part of her genuinely hoped that somehow she was wrong; that there was an alternate explanation.

His silence was all the answer she needed. The last hope she could look for was gone in that wordless reply.

" _Why_?" she hated the way her voice broke; to show weakness, just like her dad must have shown weakness and so put her in this nightmarish position. Jessie only wanted to feel fiery hot anger for her father, not the coldness of shame and disappointment she tried to ignore.

Race sank in the folds of the crescent moon shaped couch. The incredible fluffy texture engulfed him, making the large man seem almost small and meek.

"I got to know Rachel well after I worked on that case with her." he mumbled. "I didn't get to know Benton. He was a workaholic; met him once or twice when I was invited round by Rachel, but he was always distracted; busy with work. Didn't take the time to know me. Barely knew his own wife. She was lonely. She relied on her friends to feel better about herself when Benton put her aside. She… relied on me as well."

"So that's it! ? She was _lonely_! ?" Jessie squawked.

"No. It wasn't like that. We were good friends. We called each other if we had problems and needed to talk. Rachel had a lot of problems with Benton. They weren't happily married. She tried to make it work but he just didn't notice her. She was always upset about it; always callin' me or meetin' me when it got too much. Your momma liked her too. Said she should leave Benton if he made her unhappy and could stay with us for a time if she needed."

"Mom knew her?"

"Yeah. We met not long after I met Rachel. We were together for years. Then, mom got pregnant with you, and things started going wrong."

Jessie's blood turned to ice. She tasted sickness at the back of her throat.

"Your saying having me made this happen?"

"No!" Race was on his feet in an instant, reaching to take his daughter in a comforting hug.

Jessie fended him off and moved to put the couch between them. She'd grumbled about his hugging for years, too proud to admit that at her age she still enjoyed feeling like her daddy's little girl every now and then. Now she couldn't bear the thought of another hug, knowing that every touch they'd shared had been laced with deceit since the day she'd been born.

"Baby girl, I swear this was nothing to do with you. It was my fault. I was afraid of having a kid. Mom thought it was great and I didn't want to let her down. But I wasn't ready to have a little girl. I spoke to Rachel about it instead, and she helped me. She made me feel better about it all. I needed her help for a change and it felt good, but things got harder as they went on. I got more tense about the day you'd be born. I saw Rachel a lot more in the last few months."

"When you should have been helping mom?"

"… Yeah. I know, but I couldn't help it. It all got on top of me. I wasn't used to having a problem I couldn't fight my way out of. And then, when you were born, it was too much."

Race looked away, shame colouring his features.

"I went to see Rachel. I told her I wasn't lookin' to be a parent and I couldn't do it. I didn't mean it, not really, but I didn't know what else to do. When I saw Rachel she was in a bad way. She'd had it out with Benton and he'd blown her off. She was convinced it was over between them. Neither of us were thinkin' straight, and we-"

Race trailed off for a moment. A haunted look passed over his face, and quickly spread to Jessie's as she realised what he was saying.

"-We made a mistake."

A sob burst free of Jessie at the confession.

"The night I was born? The night I was born, you spent with another woman?"

Race nodded.

Jessie eyes stung, but she refused to rub them or wipe the damp trails off her face. She fought to keep her eyes hard as she glared at her father. For years she'd turned a blind eye to the truth about Jonny's parentage and how she fitted into it. Her discovery had been a gradual realisation and ignoring it had been possible. Now, with tonight's horrifying date and her dad's confession it was all hitting her at once. She could never have anticipated the sense of betrayal it brought, considering she'd already known about it, but the story of how it all came about was worse than she'd ever imagined.

"Did Dr Quest find out about it?"

Race nodded again.

"She told him. We told him together," Race grimaced. "I've never seen a man so angry. He threatened to sue me, threatened to divorce, threatened to contact the media- said he wanted Rachel out of their house, and then ended up walkin' out himself. All those years he barely looked at her, but went crazy when he found out about us- nearly damn well socked me for it."

"Then why the hell are we here! ? Why does he let you stay here with Jonny, knowing he's _your_ son? And why didn't anyone tell him! ? How could you let me live with him for years without knowing we're related! ?"

Race buried his face in his hands as he explained.

"The months after were hard on all of us. I had to tell your mom. She took it bad, but she didn't leave me- she couldn't, not when she was trying to get a handle on being a mom. Everyone was just going through the motions. Benton didn't go back to the house- Rachel was on her own. I didn't know if I shoulda been trying to help her or staying away, but your mom was staying away from me alright. Couldn't stand to look at me."

Race looked up at his daughter. Slow tears were falling down his face. Jessie stomach twisted, though with what she wasn't sure.

"You're the only thing that kept me going, Jess."

"Save it," Jessie shot him down in an instant. She didn't want to hear anything about how much he loved her. She wanted the truth. "What happened?"

Race wilted under his daughter's coldness. He hung his head dejectedly. His voice trembled as he said "Time went on. Benton's anger was getting to Rachel bad. She talked to me about abortion, thinking it might please Benton. I didn't know what to do. Neither did she. We just left it, putting off doing something, until it was too late."

A gasp escaped Race. Jessie could see he was on the verge of breaking down. The pain deep in her chest was getting worse. If he cried she didn't know what she'd do. But she neither left nor tried to offer comfort to her father. She waited to hear the rest of the sorry tale- she had to know.

"Rachel went into labour," Race finally recovered enough to continue. "It was too much for her. She died of heart failure minutes after Jonny was born." Race scrubbed his hands down his face as he paused. Jessie didn't respond, but her breath stilled for a moment at the awful admission.

"Benton had been furious, but when Rachel died, he was… lost. The man didn't know what to do with himself. I thought he'd hate Jonny when he saw him, but I guess it was only thing he had left of Rachel. I hadn't taken in Jonny myself- there too much happening, trying to square things with mom and… I don't know what else. There was so much goin' on. Then one day I went to see Benton and Jonny, and Benton said he wanted to keep him."

"And you let him?"

"I wasn't happy about it, but I knew it was too late for happy families. I couldn't have asked mom to raise Jonny. And then the appointment came up, to get Benton a bodyguard. Dunno how much they knew about what was going on- probably everything- but Benton stilled worked for the government so they wanted someone making sure he stayed safe, or maybe that he didn't lose it after his wife died. So I made a deal with him- he could keep Jonny, if he approved me as a bodyguard for the both of them, and he agreed."

Race stood and looked at Jessie. The threat of tears had passed, and now he just looked forlorn- resigned to the truth of his story.

"I guess after everything that happened, Benton just didn't have it in him to hate me anymore. We just got on with our lives from there."

"Just got on? That was it, you two the best of friends while you lie to Jonny about who his dad is?"

"It wasn't easy, Jess. But we had to find a way to cope with it. And yeah, we were never gonna tell Jonny about this. How could we have explained somethin' like that to him?"

Jessie didn't have an answer for that, but she wasn't going to forgive her dad because of it. And besides, there was a more important question on her mind.

"Is this why you and mom broke up; because of this?"

Race's gaze dropped again.

"We had a lot of problems, but that was pretty much the last straw."

"But you didn't want to have me. This all happened because you didn't want to be a father to me, but you ruined what was left of our family so you could be with Jonny instead?"

"I _did_ wanna have you, sweetheart," Race implored his daughter, but her head turning sharply away showed she didn't want affection or reassurance. With a defeated sigh he said "I was never gonna leave you Jess- not my little girl- but I didn't wanna leave Jonny either. I wanted to be there for both of you."

"And you let us grow up together for all those years, without knowing?"

This time it was Race who didn't have an answer. A dark silence descended on the room. Jessie was feeling weary, the emotional turmoil draining her. She felt so many things- hurt, betrayal, mistrust, even a bizarre sense of jealousy for Jonny- Jonny and her dad had always connected in way that made Jonny out to be the son Race never had. She couldn't help feeling bitter that her dad had gone to such pains to be with Jonny whist upheaving the lives of everyone surrounding them, including hers.

"Ponchita," Race's pet name for his daughter made her want to slap him, "you can't tell Jonny. If he found out about all this-"

"What? It would make things harder for you?" she spat. "You worried that Jonny might be ashamed of his dad?"

Race flinched and he broke eye contact with Jessie. She laughed sarcastically; cruelly.

"Don't worry, dad. I'm not gonna be the one to tell Jonny something like this. You can be the one to tell him, if you could ever stop being a coward long enough to admit it."

Jessie swept towards the open doors determinedly. Just as she was about to cross the threshold she stopped and turned to look back.

"Things are never going to be the same between us, dad. You can still keep this a secret from Jonny if you want, but I'll never forgive you for it."

"For cripes sake, Jess!" Race's temper finally peaked. "Why should I tell him? What good do you think it would do?"

"I might be able to respect you again."

Race's anger abated as quickly as it had come. A harrowed look crossed his face. Before he could give any sort of reply, Jessie had left the room.

Jessie strode through the corridor, hoping she wouldn't meet anyone on the way to her room, especially Jonny. She no excuse to explain away the tears on her face, and after everything she'd heard she doubted she could stomach any sort of lie.

But she knew she would have to see Jonny at some point. And her dad, and Dr Quest. And as much as it galled her, she knew she had no choice but to carry on as normal; to pretend her whole life hadn't changed. Sure, Jonny would think things were just a little awkward after their disastrous night out, but he'd get over it and make it clear that it was okay to still be friends, and he'd be expecting her to agree.

And she would, because what else could she do but remain friends with her brother? But it wouldn't be the same.

Nothing would ever be the same again.


End file.
